PlayStation Classic Hacking: You can now load any PS1 game you please through a USB pen drive! (without even modding your console’s files)

UPDATE: Gpghax’s author, Maku, asked me to add some important information. Firstly, gpghax is not meant as the go-to solution for adding PS1 games to your PlayStation Classic and you should use BleemSync instead. Secondly, he (Maku) is the author while the three mentioned below were people who helped him, this wasn’t made clear in the README. Thirldy, this mod doesn’t work on non-EU PlayStation Classic models and again, this wasn’t included in the README when this article was written. Maku would like to remind you that this method has potential to make your PlayStation Classic useless so use with caution.

Unfortunately, the game selection on the PlayStation Classic isn’t great so without a doubt, people wanted to play other games on this mini-console. Now, this is possible thanks to gpghax which lets you run any PS1 game you want off a USB pen drive!

What is gpghax? How does it work?

gpghax is a software solution that modifies the PlayStation Classic’s game database to allow you to swap out games with other ones. The folks behind it are madmonkey (who found the intial entry point for the payload launcher), DanTheMan827 and skogaby and they’re still actively updating the hack with new features (like auto-backing up the database file on the PlayStation Classic when the hack is run).

You have to mess about with a database (SQLite) editor to add custom games which may be a bit difficult

That being said, you can use SCUS-94426’s folder (21) to inject a single custom game without modifying the database.

There’s a bug in which your console would refuse to boot if you add a game, navigate to it in the main menu, shut down the console, remove the added game and then boot the console up.

This happens because it would be trying to load up a database entry that doesn’t exist

To get it on your PlayStation Classic, the instructions roughly have you modifying the database file to add your desired game(s), putting that on a pen drive and copying your desired game(s) to the same pen drive. Unfortunately, the instructions given in the GitHub page are somewhat lacking so you’re better off watching a video tutorial on how to do it.

You can also run your own games without modifying files on the PlayStation Classic itself. This is done by running a modified lolhack.sh file which copies the PlayStation Classic’s files to a pen drive and then runs everything off that. By doing this, you can modify add/remove games without messing around with the files on the internal storage of the PlayStation Classic itself thus removing the chance of you messing up. To read up on this method, check out this Reddit thread.

Conclusion

The PlayStation Classic is already running a native version of DOOM which means that it has great potential for running open-source games, emulators and other software

If you decide to wait a bit longer, something much simpler will most likely be released and you could add games with just a few clicks on your computer. However, if you don’t feel like waiting and want to hack your console now, you should really check a video tutorial on how to do it.

All in all, the PlayStation Classic scene seems to be getting exciting quite quickly and in a short while, we may get homebrew (such as emulators for other systems), the ability to boot other Linux distributions and lots of other stuff!

The video below demonstrates how to add games on the PlayStation Classic. Wololo is in no-way affiliated with “8 Bit Flashback” (the video’s channel) and it’s only being provided due to the written instructions on GitHub not being very clear.

I'm a girl that's liked technology from day 1. Mostly interested in the PSVita/PSP scene but I've always modded my stuff when it's possible, that is :)Contact me via DM at @KawaiiAuroraA on Twitter if you have any questions/concerns about my articles or if you have any article requests.

Sony’s recent security is actually pretty decent. That’s due to a bunch of R&D that cost probably millions of dollars. Selling a bare bones console with no digital purchase platform doesn’t create much of a profit margin for R&D to secure a offline console with no possibility for updates.

Big deal, people might be able to play free PS1 games. Like there’s not a million avenues to do this already.

You are right! Ps2 Ps3 Psp Psvita maybe Ps4 and many emulator for many O.S. can emulate Psone. Games are on web like roms, and no new games for update a new version firmware, so no nternet connection. For what? Why spend for security? Sony sell (like nintendo & sega) for only 100€ an old Psone, that I’ve alredy in my all systems, inclusive my smartphone! Come on! Save your money!